Improved process for treating ores



- UNITED STATES eras rrecs.

, SIMON MACKIE, on NEW YORK, is. Y.

I IMPR'ojiiED eiioczss FOR TREATING osss.

s ecifi'c'aniifininin its 0': Letters Patent No. 49,637. dated August 29,1865.

and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Treatment of Gold Ores in the Process of Obtaining Gold therefrom; and 'I do hereby declare that the following is a full andcorrect description thereof.

My improved process, while capable of be' ing applied to every gold containing ore, possesses peculiar advantages when ores'containing a notable quantity of. iron are treated.

In carrying out my improved process I first remove from among the substances present in the ore parts of the volatile substances, the silica, and a portion or the whole of theirou or other substances capable of forming fusible combinations with silica. For this purpose I roast the ore in a reverberatory furnace or other contrivance capable of oxidizing tlieiron, &c., and of simultaneously removing portions of the volatile substances present. The roasted ore I fuse in any suitable t'urnace -say, for example, the Swedish snluiifen-obtaining there'- by a matte or speiss and-slag. 1 separate the slag from the matte, finding the gold-in the matte. 1f the ore does not possess such a composition as leads to the production in afusionof a good, easily separated. matte/and slag, I giveit a suitable composition, either by mix: ing ores of various composition or by the addition of either liinestone,.fluor-spar, silica,

pyrites, or other substances which experience has taught iinelallurgists to use as fluxes in order to supply the defects in ores; and when 1am not able to remove in one fusion all the iron and other constituents desirable to he removed at-this stage of the process without'an excessiveloss of gold in the slag,l roast again,

mix the roasted matte with silica or silica-containing substances, and then i use again, thereby obtaining,besides slag,aseco nd matteri'cher 'in gold than the first; .and Irepeat .these op erations until amatterich enough to operate upon bythe subsequentportion: of my process.

is obtained.

Having obtained a matte; product, orv substance rich enough for mypurpose, l render soluble those porticnscapableof being'brought into solution. Fog-this purposel again roast the mass in a suitable furnace, producing in this roasting oxides and salts of the various metallic substances other than gold, and then proceed to convert such portions of the roast not rendered soluble by this roasting into solu' ble substances by the action'of acids. The acid may be used by itself, either in an aqueous solution or in vapor, or it maybe combined with other substances capable of giving up some portion of it.

In the use of liquids I place the mass or roast in a tub or suitable resscland pour upon it suliioient quantity of dilute sulphuric or muriatic acid, and when the reaction has ceased separate the insoluble residue, which contains gold. A solution of per-sulphate or perchloride of iron, or other substance capable of giving up a portion of its acid, may be used instead of the acid solution.

When using acid vapors I place the roast in a suitable chamber-"say a gas-retort-and, having heated it to a teing ierati'u'e not high enough to decompose the salts formed, submit it to the'action of a current of moist air and sulphurons or muriatic acid vapors. When the reaction has ceased I treatthe mass which has been subjected to the action of acids in either of the above-described forms with a sufficient quantity of water to dissolveup the soluble portions,and then separate the solution from the insoluble residue, using such an paratus as is commonly used for leaching out and purifying soda in the manufacture of soda brash. Any apparatnswhichwiil contanrthe mass and liquid and permit the solid'matter to separate and the liquid to be drawn ofi will answer. This insoluhcresidue contains gold. This gold may be freed from the contaminat ing impurities by fusing the mass with horas,

litharge, and lead, separating the slag from the lead and cupellingfofi' the lead, thereby obtaining a mass of gold, or by any other process'capabie of giving a similar result.

It will be evident to those skilled in thea'rt.

of working gold ores that my object in-the use of acids is to dissolve out from the matte the ,baser metals and othersubstanceshcsidesgold,

and to leave the gold with the residue, and therefore acids, acid vapors, orsuhstances yielding acids which will notleave the gold in the residue are not in be used.

1 d0 not claim, broadly, the use of acids for separating metals from each other neither do I claim, breadly, roasting and fusing ores of gold.

1 claim as my invention andimprovement in the mode of treating ores of gold-- 1. The within-described mode of obtaining a rieh gold residue from ores of gold by treat- 1.0 the ores bv roastin and fusin and sub- E) l b jecting the roast to the action of acids, substantially as described.

2. Removing the baser metals and other matters from the roasted matte and leaving a rich gold residue by subjecting the roasted matte to the action of acids, substantially as described.

SIMON F. MAUKIE.

Witnesses:

' F. 0. TREADWELL, J r.,

I. A. DUNCAN. 

